North Wasco County SD 21 budget committee approves $654.7 million budget, moves to levy property tax for general fund

The North Wasco County SD 21 budget committee voted to approve the district’s proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, in the aggregate amount of $654,700,381 and moved to levy ad valorem property taxes in support of the general fund. A budget committee member made the motion and the committee voted in favor.

The vote followed a staff presentation explaining major line-item shifts and program changes that affected per-student costs and function codes in the draft budget. The committee discussed a multi-million-dollar seismic project tied to Chenoweth that inflated that school's per-student figures, the discontinuation of a contract for Kelly Avenue School, the reassignment of several administrative duties to private contractors (Sodexo), and a net reduction of six full-time equivalent positions in the proposed budget.

Staff member: The committee’s finance presenter said the unusually high total dollars attached to Chenoweth were “because of the seismic activity there” and that “there’s a couple of million dollars” tied to that work. The presenter also said that the seismic work had a grant attached, so “it wasn’t even really budgeted only by the district.”

Nut graf: The budget vote sets the district’s legal spending authority for the next fiscal year and authorizes the property tax levy the committee proposed to fund the general fund. The document and the committee discussion make clear that some cost changes reflect one-time grant-funded projects and contract changes rather than recurring operating expenses; other changes reflect staff reassignments and program eliminations that affect ongoing service delivery and staffing levels.

Key budget changes and discussion points

- Chenoweth seismic work and per‑student cost: Staff said a multi-million-dollar seismic project drove up the total dollars attributed to Chenoweth and that grant funding covered a portion of that work. Staff clarified that the seismic expense is not an operating cost and that removing the seismic dollars would bring Chenoweth’s cost per student much closer to comparable schools.

- Kelly Avenue School and Next Door Incorporated: The committee was told the district has discontinued its contract with Next Door Incorporated to operate Kelly Avenue School. The presenter said Next Door approached the district and agreed to continue operating two classrooms and the educational/day-treatment program without the district contract, serving some students via reimbursement through the Oregon Health Plan where eligible. The contract amount previously coded to function 12.84 was described as “slightly over $200,000” and that reduction explains a major portion of the decrease in that function code.

- Sodexo contractor absorbing roles: The presenter said the district’s nutrition services director position, which was vacant, and district facilities operations responsibilities that had been handled by a district operations director are now incorporated under the Sodexo food service and facilities contract; the district no longer employs a districtwide nutrition services director and the facilities director position changed responsibilities internally.

- Staffing and FTE changes: Staff described eliminations and reassignments across licensed and classified positions. Examples provided: one vacant districtwide behavior-specialist role and two vacant middle school teaching positions were removed; a high school student-success teacher position’s duties were reassigned to the high school vice principal; some classified receptionist/secretary roles were consolidated; three positions were added (including a high school vice principal and a maintenance position), yielding a net reduction of six FTEs compared with the prior budget document. Staff said several of the eliminated positions were vacant and that no employees were displaced by those specific eliminations.

- Grants and revenue uncertainty: Staff discussed federal Title II and Title III allocations, noting Title III in the draft was about $105,000 and that carryover from prior years may be spent but new grant awards “may or may not” appear; if a grant does not materialize the district would need to absorb services in the general fund. Staff also warned that an unexpected increase in payroll taxes had raised personnel costs during preparation of the budget.

Formal action and vote

A budget committee member moved that the proposed budget of the North Wasco County SD 21 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, be approved in the aggregate amount of $654,700,381 and that ad valorem property taxes be levied in support of the general fund as stated in the motion. The motion was seconded and the committee voted in favor by voice vote; committee members answered “aye” and no opposition was recorded on the transcript.

Procedural and closing items

Staff said minutes and related materials would be circulated for signature, likely by DocuSign. Committee members thanked the departing staff presenter and acknowledged his service. No additional formal directions, referrals, or conditions on the budget motion were recorded in the meeting transcript.

Ending: The committee approved the proposed budget and the related property tax levy authorization; staff will circulate final documents for signatures and follow up on outstanding clarifications about FTE totals and grant carryover for inclusion in the final budget documents.